


Thursday's Child

by CasGetYourShotgun



Series: The Nephilim Rules [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angels, Archangel Castiel, Background Castiel/Dean Winchester - Freeform, Background Gabriel/Sam Winchester - Freeform, Daezatim, Disregarding Season 11, Enochian, Erika seems like the sort of person who'd like FOB, Fall Out Boy Lyrics, Future, Gabriel (Supernatural) is Loki, Grief/Mourning, Hunter Castiel, Hunter Erika, Hunters & Hunting, Men of Letters Bunker, Nephilim, Next Generation, No MPreg whatsoever, Stonehenge Apocalypse references, Trickster Gabriel, Trickster Sabriel, just go with it, technically, this might be a weird fic but there has to be a line and this is it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-05-07 15:57:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5462462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasGetYourShotgun/pseuds/CasGetYourShotgun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erika Winchester is fifteen years old and nephilim; her life is threatened on an almost-daily basis by angels and demons alike, and her very essence is at risk of corruption.<br/>Laurel Tanner is one of only two survivors of a disaster that ruined her peaceful suburban life, yet she knows she is one of three - and whatever took her family is after her too.<br/>The two are about to be drawn together in ways they could never imagine. They don't know what's out there, and they don't know what it wants with them, but one thing's for sure: they sure as hell won't let it get them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: The Kids Aren't Alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing our central characters! Or at least, two of them.  
> [Awaiting reformatting]

**THEN**

_"As I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Thy angels watch me through the night, and keep me safe til morning light."_  
Seven-year-old Laurel Tanner of Denver, Colorado, believed in angels. Or at least, she thought she did. She had to, because if nothing was looking out for her then what protection did she have from the monsters beneath her bed and in the closet? There was something in the darkness, she was sure.  
"Ready for bed?"  
"Yes, Mommy." Laurel allowed herself to be tucked in, and her mother kissed her forehead.  
"Goodnight."  
Her mother didn't believe her about whatever is in the darkness. Laurel tried to warn her. She never listened.  
Laurel couldn't see herself sleeping with the night light off, ever, but she knew she was safe. Something was watching over her, protecting her, guarding her.  
But what about the rest of her family?

***********

Miles away, in another state entirely and in another kind of building altogether, a very different child was saying the same prayer.  
Erika Mary Winchester also knew that there was something lurking in the darkness. She knew too much for someone so young. She knew what was out there.  
She knew how to weaken it so it couldn't hurt her.  
She wasn't allowed a gun - not then, anyway - but she had rock salt and holy water by her bed. And if the salt wouldn't deter it and the water wouldn't harm it, she had her Grace (or whatever semblance of Grace it is that constituted the spiritual soup within her). And her family wouldn't even let it enter the bunker to begin with anyway.  
She knew she wasn't safe, but she knew she had safeguards.  
"You don't sleep." A familiar voice responded. Her father. (The human one.)  
"I know. I'm lulling the demons into a false sense of security. They'll think I'm easy prey, then BAM! I can gank 'em." The child grinned triumphantly at her own hypothetical cunning.  
Dean ruffled her hair. "That's my girl." But there was sadness in his voice.

**********

Erika lead a very different life to Laurel, and their paths had yet to cross.  
Laurel's parents took her to ballet lessons.  
Erika's parents had been teaching her to fire a shotgun.  
Laurel's parents had regular jobs with regular paychecks.  
Erika's parents were as far from that as you could get.  
Laurel’s friends (the few that she had) knew her real name.  
Erika's classmates thought her name was Rikki Lawrence.  
Laurel was mortal.  
Erika was...not exactly.  
The world had never seen two people less likely to form any kind of bond.

**********

Caroline Tanner smiled as she walked back to her room. It was the first time in six weeks that Laurel hadn't mentioned the monsters. Maybe she'd realised it was all in her mind.  
Caroline worried about her daughter sometimes.  
Laurel was a little too imaginative for her own good. She was sweet, and innocent, and considerate. She was a wonderful child; there was none better. But her brain wouldn't stop working for a moment.  
She really believed there was something out there waiting for her. She was genuinely afraid.  
_Thank goodness she's recovering_ , thought Caroline.  
Except Laurel wasn't leaving the darkness behind.  
Not at all.  
To the casual observer, Laurel seemed to be resurfacing at long last, when everyone thought she was drowning.  
In fact, she was destined to wade further into that bottomless ocean of the unknown, the inexplicable - the _supernatural._

**********

Caroline wasn't the only parent in America that night hoping against hope that their child would grow up unafraid of the dark and able to lead a normal life.  
Seven years prior, Dean Winchester made a promise - to himself, to Cas, and to their baby daughter - that Erika would never become a hunter.  
He would teach her how to protect herself and any family she may have in the future, but she could not go down the path he and Sam travelled. He wouldn't allow it.  
In the distant future, Erika Mary Winchester was going to go to college. She was going to graduate. She would have the freedom to be whatever the hell she wanted.  
But her life would never be truly normal, because Erika wasn't fully human.  
She was destined to fight. To hunt.  
To save the life of a young girl by the name of Laurel Tanner.

**********

Destiny can never be truly swayed from its course.  
Laurel started having nightmares at eight, and Erika 'accidentally' smote her teacher after being told Enochian wasn't a real language.  
Erika performed her first (albeit impromptu) exorcism at nine, and Laurel caught a glimpse of the predicted _something._  
Laurel became interested in the paranormal at ten, and Erika learned the truth about angels.  
Erika decapitated her first vampire at eleven, and Laurel started feeling more and more alone in the world.  
Laurel encountered a man with black eyes at twelve, and Erika figured out that combining salt, holy water and a hypodermic syringe made a pretty good weapon at close quarters.  
Erika started tagging along on easier hunts at thirteen, and Laurel started having panic attacks because she had never felt so afraid.  
Laurel started barricading her bedroom door at night at fourteen, and Erika told her parents and uncle she'd rather just go straight into the family business than start high school.  
In their fifteenth year, Dean bought Erika her first hunting knife.  
And Laurel?  
Laurel became the target of the kind of thing she'd only read about before.  
And it turned out she was right, all those years ago. There _were_ angels watching over her.  
Only it wasn't just angels.


	2. Chapter 1: If Home Is Where The Heart Is...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a funeral and a camera, and our heroines' lives collide. Literally.

**NOW**

From the day of her birth, Erika Winchester had been an outsider.

In school, she’d never made much of an effort to connect with other children; instead she’d spend her days shadow-boxing or curled up in the corner with a book on mythology. People learned to avoid her. She was too strong, too fast, too... _other_...for their world. Even when she did try to communicate, it had taken her until she was six-and-a-half to differentiate between English and her _other language_ , as they called it. After a while she just stopped trying. 

Besides, it’s hard to make real friends when you live under a false identity, when you can’t bring them back to yours because you live underground.

Erika was a loner. That was just the way it was, and she was okay with that. The way it must always be. It didn’t matter how much her family tried to convince her she needed to integrate with regular humans, immerse herself into their regular lives, because it would make her future so much easier.

Future! What a joke! If she didn’t become a hunter the only ‘future’ she would ever have would be one pretending to be someone else.

You didn’t get out of hunting.

You didn’t get your _children_ out of hunting.

Especially if your spawn, should you be _stupid_ enough to procreate, were anything like the youngest Winchester.

But at least this way she was contented.

Erika’s solitary life suited her _just fine._

Or at least, it used to.

Things were changing.

**********

Laurel Tanner had to get out. She couldn’t stand to stay in that damp-smelling church listening to some guy her parents had never really liked read a stranger’s words about what good people they had been, how much her sister’s friends would miss her, and how hard it would be for her Aunt Jennifer now that her husband and son were dead.

This guy didn’t know _shit._

She knew most of her family members were killed in the accident. She’d seen the bodies of her mother, her father, her sister, her uncle. She and her aunt had cried over their corpses. She knew they were gone, and they were never coming back.

But her cousin Ky was alive.

There had been no body in the wreckage of her house, no trace of Ky at all. No reason to suspect him dead.

She knew _something_ had taken him, and she was pretty sure it was coming for her next.

The cops thought she was crazy. Jennifer thought she was hysterical (not because she didn't believe in the supernatural, but because her religion made no reference to similar events). But it was the honest truth.

And no-one would listen. No-one was going to help her find the answers.

Everyone has their breaking point.

She stood up and walked out of the room mid-service. She broke into a run through the churchyard.  
She didn’t look back. She didn’t look ahead. She just ran.

Until she slammed into the teenage girl with the short black hair and the obsolete camera (who she could tell wasn't there to mourn _anybody_ ) and knocked them both over.

She scrambled back to her feet but didn’t offer the other girl a hand. Not that she needed to. The girl had the expression of someone who’d just have ignored it anyway.

They stood in stony silence. No way was Laurel apologising to some random who’d just appeared at her family’s funeral, and the gatecrasher herself made no move to say anything.

“Who the hell are you?” she said finally.

“I could ask you the same question.” There was a hint of a smile at the girl’s lips, but no real mirth in her moss-green eyes.

“I mean it! What’s your name and what are you doing here?”

“You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”

“Laurel Tanner. I’m here because most of my family _died_.” She wasn’t going to cry in front of some bitch who’d just decided to show up on the second-worst day of her life.

“I'm sorry for your loss. I’m...Carrie, and my activities are classified."

Laurel stared incredulously. _Is she for real?_ "Classified. What are you, some kinda government agent?"

"Something like that." Carrie shrugged and went back to her photography.

"You're a terrible liar." Laurel said. "I mean, you could have just said you were a photography student and I would have believed you. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Research." Carrie barely even looked at her.

"Your name's not really Carrie, is it?"

Carrie visibly hesitated. "Erika," she said finally. "Swear to God."

"Erica," Laurel repeated.

Erica rolled her eyes. "Erika. With a K. Y'know, like ‘Daughter of Man’ Erika?” And then, as Laurel watched in shock, Erika-With-A-K did the impossible.

She vanished into thin air.

**********

Laurel had work to do.

A few years after Carver Edlund, famed 'scribe' of the Winchester Gospels, stopped writing, a woman claiming to be a prophet came out of the woodwork claiming the _Supernatural_ novels to be prophecy. At first she was dismissed as a fanatic, but background research showed that many events of the books had occurred only days later in real life. The world was split into two camps; believers and non-believers both fought to be heard. Then the same woman released another statement referring to a bond being cemented between an angel and a human, and the subsequent birth of a nephilim child referred to variously as Erika, Destiel, and Daughter of Man. Although her parents had never been named, the titles used meant they were commonly believed to be Dean and Castiel of the so-called Winchester Gospels. 

Laurel herself had always been a non-believer, unlike her aunt, but her encounter with Erika had sparked something in her. As soon as she got home she found herself checking up the details. Not about the events of the gospels, but about the nephilim prophecy. 

There was no record of an Erika Winchester having existed anywhere...except in one place. Someone had found a copy of the educational records for a girl named Rikki Lawrence and posted them in an online forum. 

Rikki had been born around the time the prophecy indicated that Erika had been, and the two had undeniably similar first names. 

Sam and Dean Winchester had allegedly been born in Lawrence, Kansas. 

All very circumstantial, except there were pictures enclosed. Pictures of a girl with jet-black hair, green eyes and the same pointed features of the girl Laurel had seen in the graveyard. The girl who'd disappeared before her eyes. 

If that wasn't supernatural, Laurel didn't know what was.

And if it was real, she had concrete proof that demons were real as well. Concrete proof that _something_ had taken Ky. Concrete proof that she wasn’t crazy.

“No you don’t.”

Laurel turned around so fast she was dizzy. “Are you reading my mind or something? And how did you get in here?”

“I’m half-angel. I know a few tricks.” Erika smirked. “But if you take this to the cops they’ll write you off as some religious fanatic or a straight-up nutjob.”

“And you know this how?”

“‘Excuse me, officer?’” the intruder said in a ridiculous imitation of Laurel’s voice, “‘My cousin was spirited away by some kinda demon and I know all this because a legendary, possibly-fictitious nephil who only very narrowly avoided inheriting double-Y chromosomes showed up at his shared funeral and tipped me off.’ Yeah, that sounds believable, Laurel.”

“So there’s nothing I can do for Ky?” Laurel asked.

“There might be,” Erika said slowly, “but I don’t think you’ll like it.”

“Why not?” But it was too late. Erika was gone again.

Laurel put her head in her hands. "God, I wish she'd stop doing that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anything that doesn't make sense will be explained later, either in this book or later in the series.


	3. Chapter 2: I Don't Think I'm Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An attack, tears, revelations and a phone call. Also, pie.

Laurel had expected Erika to return with details of her plan within a few hours of leaving, but it looked like the nephil (to use Erika's term) was being deliberately unhelpful.

The two hadn't even seen each other in a week or so.

In that time, Laurel had moved in with her aunt (the house felt so empty with just the two of them in it), and Erika had completed the mission the human had almost derailed.

And then everything had stopped for a while.

Until now.

***********

Erika read the note in her hands, then screwed it up, put the small ball down and tossed it into the wastebasket. She focused intently and was rewarded with the sight of the crumpled paper spontaneously igniting from the force of her not-quite-Grace. _The perks of being a nephil_ , she thought idly as she lazily stretched her silvery-black wings behind her.

The note was the usual sort of thing, nothing worth keeping. Just something to inform her that she'd be home alone for a few days whilst her parents and uncle were on a hunting trip (this time it was a spate of wendigo attacks in New Jersey severe enough that it had been ruled a three-man job), followed by a friendly reminder _not_ to accidentally bring about Armageddon. She knew the drill.

Of course, she'd search for her own case in the meantime (hopefully one a little more exciting than the salt-and-burn her last solo assignment had turned out to be), but it looked like she had some time to herself.

Or not.

_Erika?_ Laurel's voice echoed throughout her mind. _I don't know if you can hear me or if I'm doing this right, or even if this is how I'm supposed to call you, but you have to help me! Please?_  
_Okay,_ Erika thought back, even though prayer was a one-way system (and one typically inaccessible to her kind) and Laurel couldn't really hear her.

*****************

Laurel sat curled on the floor of the rundown phone booth, clutching the receiver and crying. She hadn't actually been making any calls, but she'd needed a cover. Talking to an empty sky wouldn't exactly prove her sanity.

There was a flutter of wings.

"Erika?"

"C'mon, let's get out of here."

The world pitched, and in a matter of seconds Laurel opened her eyes to find herself somewhere else entirely. She wasn't sure where she was, but she was pretty sure she wasn't in Colorado anymore. 

She was also sure she needed to puke into the bucket Erika passed her.

"Rough ride?" Erika asked, holding Laurel's hair back. "Sorry. I've never tried teleporting someone else with me before.” For angels it was the preferred method of transportation, but most nephilim tended to avoid it. Their human sides weren’t equipped for it, making it incredibly tiring over long distances. Erika was half-archangel, making it much easier for her than others, but it was still taxing. (Although that didn’t stop her using it whenever she could. After all, she reasoned, it would only get harder if she _didn’t_ use the ability.)

"And you thought that was the best time to try?"

"Hey. You asked for me. If you wanted it done relatively painlessly, you shoulda gone to Cas." The nephil shrugged indifferently. "I haven't had nearly as much practice." She neglected to mention angelic teleportation-flight was vaguely unpleasant for humans no matter how much practice the angel (or half-angel) had had. “You done with that bucket?"

Laurel nodded.

Erika led the still-shivering teen over to the couch and kept her hand on her shoulder as she lowered herself into a sitting position. At least, she started out sitting; she ended up curling into the foetal position and sobbing softly anew. Why? Erika didn't quite know.

****************

Laurel wasn't sure how long she sat there, but the next thing she could clearly sense was Erika sprawled next to her digging a fork into a cherry pie.

"Yo'kay?" She mumbled through a mouthful of dessert.

"No," she snapped. "I'm not okay. I've lost _everything._ "

Erika stopped eating long enough to throw something at her. "Catch."

Laurel didn't. She scrambled for it on the floor. "How did you get this?" she asked, holding up her phone.  
"Picked it up on the way back from getting food," the nephil answered. "These powers of mine are kinda useful occasionally."

"And that's another thing. My one and only ally is semi-divine and could probably kill me without even lifting a finger-"

"I won't."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Because...oh, God, I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you this ever...I feel a connection with you. It's hard to explain, but it's like…like I can sense you. Well, I did some research of my own, and...apparently it means I'm your-" the half-angel screwed up her face in disgust, " _guardian angel._ "

Laurel was speechless.

"Close your mouth, Tanner, you don't know what could fly in there."

"You're...my-"

"Yes, and if you ever call me that then consider me _gone_. I might be stuck with your soul for all eternity but that doesn't mean I'm obliged to come when you call. I'm not a dog, and I'm not your slave. I have free will, you know?"

"What's wrong with gua- _that_ term?"

"I refuse to be called an angel. They won't accept my kind as their kin, so I won't accept them as mine. I'm your guardian. Not your guardian _angel_ , just your guardian. Okay?"

"Okay."

"And don't think for one second I'm cool with this. I'm a hunter, not your Heavenly babysitter." The nephil's green eyes flashed.

"I get it. I wouldn't want to be stuck with that kinda responsibility either." Laurel patted her guardian's shoulder in what she hoped was an understanding manner. "I mean, spending infinity looking out for another person must _suck."_

"You don't say," Erika deadpanned, shovelling another forkful of pie into her mouth."You gonna call her?" She asked, nodding at Laurel's forgotten phone.

"Call who?"

"Your aunt. Tell her you're not dead." Erika screwed up her face again. "Dammit. It's cold." She clicked again and stuck her left index finger into the pie. "Better."

"Would you just shut up a sec?" Laurel asked, waiting for her aunt to pick up and wiping away a stray tear.

"Your wish is my command."

The human just rolled her eyes.

_"Hello?"_

"Aunt Jenny? It's me."

_"Laurel? You're okay?"_

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm safe."

_"Thank God!"_ Laurel could just imagine her aunt clasping her hands together in prayer. _"Where are you? I'll come collect you!"_

"I..." Erika snatched the phone away.

"Hello? Laurel's aunt? Erika Winchester calling." Break. "Yes, like the Winchester Gospels." Break. "No, I didn't demolish your home." Break. "No, I _can't_ fix it." Break. "Look, lady, Lo's probably in danger. I think it's best if she stays with us for a while. We can keep her safe." Break. Erika was becoming increasingly irritated by whatever it was that the woman was saying, and Laurel smirked. _Rather you than me_. "Yes, as in the Winchester Gospels Sam and Dean!" Break. _"How many other Castiels do you know?" Deep breath, Erika. Deeeeep breaths_. Break. " _Okay_ , okay, I'll put Lo back on!"

_"Laurel?"_

"Aunt Jenny?"

_"You've taken up with the Winchesters? As in,_ the _Winchesters?"_

"Apparently so." _Wish someone had consulted me first, though._

_"Laurel, I'm worried about you,"_ Now it was Laurel's turn to feel exasperated with the woman, _"but I have faith in the Winchesters. I'll tell the police to stop searching."_

"So, I'm staying here?"

_"Of course."_

"Thanks." Truth be told, Laurel wasn't sure this was such a good thing, but she had nothing to go back to.

_"It's nothing,"_ her aunt practically gushed. _"It's an honour. Just think - my own niece, receiving assistance from God's agents on Earth-"_

"Goodbye, Aunt Jenny!"

_"Goodbye!"_ A pause. _"Oh, and one other thing -do you know if Sam Winchester is seeing anyone right now? Because-"_

_"Goodbye_ , Aunt Jenny."

Laurel hung up. 

" _That's your aunt?_ " Erika asked. "Because she is _insane_ , Lo."

_"Lo?"_

"I'm not spending the rest of my life hanging out with someone called _'Laurel_.'" Erika answered, grimacing. "New name, new you." Pause. "Can you do something for me?"

Laurel - Lo, apparently - looked suspicious. "What?"

"Try this." Erika passed an extra fork over to her new houseguest and pushed the dish in her direction.  
Laurel had never really liked pie, but this wasn't as bad as she'd thought. "'S'good."

"I thought it was," the half-angel sighed in relief, "but I couldn't quite tell."

Laurel considered asking what she meant, but chose not to risk distressing the only friend she had left.  
She opted to push a different issue instead. "What did you mean, 'new name, new me?'"

Erika smiled. "You'll see," she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about Erika's job: I'd explain...but that would be telling :)


	4. Chapter 3: Like A Phoenix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makeovers, burnt waffles, and not-so-amusing anecdotes. Someone has to explain Lo to Dean.

"C'mon, Lo!" Erika called from the other side of the changing room door. "I wanna see!"

"I _hate_ plaid!" came the response.

Erika had decided - completely reasonably, of course, seeing as her charge had lost everything - that Laurel needed new clothes. Laurel _had_ had some say in her potential purchases, but the vast majority of it seemed to be denim (which she liked) or flannel (which, soft as it was, was something she never wore, ever). Apparently, when joining a group of hunters (however temporarily), wearing skinny jeans and a camisole was 'like walking into armed conflict in an LBD.' It _wasn’t the done thing._

"If you don't come out, I'm coming in!"

"Not if I don't let you!"

"I'm half-angel, Lo, remember?"

Laurel sighed, took a last miserable look in the mirror, and stepped out.

Erika gave her an appraising look. "Passable. Just one more thing." The nephil removed her battered leather jacket and slipped it around her charge's shoulders. "Perfecto. Take a look."

Laurel ducked back into the stall.

She still had her sneakers (which Erika had deemed more or less appropriate), but her jeans were straight rather than skinny and the cami had been traded in for a short-sleeved white T-shirt and a greyish-blue shirt that contrasted with her darkish skin and hair. The ensemble bore a vague resemblance to what Erika wore, although her companion had always preferred red to blue and her jeans were ripped and grass-stained.

The girl in the mirror didn't look like Laurel Tanner anymore.

She looked like Lo. And Laurel, to her own surprise, actually liked it.

"I guess I could get used to this."

**********

Back in the bunker, Lo looked around the room Erika had allotted her. It was the nephil's own ( _'I thought it'd make you feel more at home!'_ ), and looked pretty much as Lo would have expected had she given the matter any thought.

It was a functional space more than anything else. There was a desk pushed up against one wall, with several battered, ancient-looking books strewn across it. A mirror hung nearby, and the bed faced the doorway. There was a rack on one wall displaying several types of weaponry (Lo saw Erika replace something on it following their return), and on the bedside table sat a bottle of something transparent that Lo _hoped_ was water. Something that looked suspiciously like a dagger stuck out from under the pillow.

Erika didn't have a wardrobe; everything she owned was either on display, strewn over the floor, or in the chest of drawers next to the weapons rack.

There was a red patchwork quilt spread across the bed that couldn't have been more out of place if it tried.

Lo had protested, but her guardian had insisted she take the room. _'I don't sleep much anyway,'_ she'd said, _'you may as well take it.'_

Lo knew Erika wasn't telling her something, but she was tired out.

She collapsed into her host's bed and passed out.

Erika watched, unseen, from the doorway.

**********

Lo woke the next morning unsure of where she was. She couldn't place her surroundings at first; then she remembered what had happened. _You cannot start crying, Lo,_ she told herself, swallowing and wandering off down the hall in the hope she could find Erika.

Eventually, she stumbled drowsily into the kitchen.

"D'ya want waffles?" her hostess asked. "Because I'm having waffles whether you like it or not, so I figured I should at least offer you some. Guardian nephil and all that."

"OK."

"I should probably also tell you I only figured out how to make waffles last week and I'm not too good at _not burning them,_ " Erika warned, pouring batter. Lo grinned. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

**********

Fortunately, they came out more or less edible (which Erika said was "excellent" on the grounds that the only other thing she could make was instant noodles and ‘that’s not very breakfast-y, is it, Lo?’) and, if she was being honest, Lo couldn't remember a better breakfast. The last time had been a month ago, before...the incident.

Seeing Erika douse her waffles in enough syrup and sugar for eight people was the ideal distraction from thinking about _it._

"Do you do this every time?"

"Do what?"

"Recreate one of the Great Lakes with syrup."

Erika stopped eating.

"I mean," Lo continued, "how can you even taste anything under that?"

"I can't," Erika replied, dropping her fork into the syrupy mess on her plate. "That’s the point."

"What is?"

"Angelic tastebuds are more useful for mass spectrometry than the enjoyment of food. If I were fully angelic, I'd just taste molecules. That's it."

"But you're only half-angel, right?"

"That makes it worse. If you've never tasted food, you can't miss it. But I have. I can _almost_ taste it." The nephil glowered at her breakfast like it was personally responsible for her misfortune. "But, of course, I _can't."_

"So it's like drinking really, really watered-down orange juice," Lo asked, "only, like, all the time?"

"Wouldn't know," Erika answered, "it'd be too dilute for me to taste. I drink it neat." She picked up her glass and swirled it around a little.

"That's why you asked me about the pie."

"Yep," Erika emphasised the 'p' for effect. "Wanted a second opinion."

"So what's with all the syrup?"

"If I add enough I can just about overpower the taste of molecules. It's not ideal, but it tastes better than just glucose and carbon."

"That must suck."

"Ya think?" Erika stuck another sticky forkful of slightly-burnt waffle into her mouth. "I do it with all condiments, but excess sugar is nicer than excess anything-else." She laughed. "One time, when I was fourteen, I tagged along on a shapeshifter hunt and you know how it is with adults when they're working. Everyone left me alone and I got bored. I went out, found a diner, ordered pancakes and drowned them in syrup. Turns out the guy at the next table was a hunter. He thought I was a Trickster, I ate so much of the stuff." 

Lo didn't find it so funny.

"Oh, come on! It was hilarious! I mean, not when he tried to kill me, obviously, but the look on his face when my wings manifested - priceless."

"You could have died!"

"Nah," Erika replied. "There's only one way to kill a Trickster and it doesn't affect nephilim. Now eat your waffles."

**********

"How are we gonna explain this?" Lo asked later as the two lay on their backs on the bunker library floor, staring at the ceiling. They'd gone in there to search for information on whatever it was that had tried to attack Lo, but had been forced to abandon that idea when it became apparent that the human couldn't bring herself to talk about it. Erika, to her own surprise, wasn't pushing her. They hardly knew each other, but the nephil felt a...connection to the other girl. _Probably just because I'm her guardian._

"Explain what?"

"Me." After years of cutting out unnecessary contact, neither was certain how the older Winchesters would take their news. Lo didn't want to find out.

Erika grabbed her phone. "Like this," she answered. "Hey!" She paused whilst whoever was on the other end responded. "Just...calling to check on the case!" Another pause. _"Two_ wendigo? That happens? Wow." Break. Lo sighed impatiently. "I gotta write that down! Bye, Dad!" Break. "Wha...whaddaya mean 'since when do I call you Dad?'" Break. "Nothing! No secrets here! Gotta go! Oh, and by the way, I brought a friend home!" Erika hung up quickly and grimaced. "Think I overdid the enthusiastic-daughter act?"

The phone rang again.

"You answer it," Erika said, scrawling something on her hand.

"No way."

**********

In the end, Erika answered, and Lo made her way back to Erika's room with a book whose illustrations seemed similar to what she had witnessed. 

She never made it, instead choosing to sit outside the library and squint at the pages in the hope that the language on them would suddenly make sense. It didn't, so she settled for listening in on Erika's conversation.

"It's fine!" Erika was insisting. _"She's_ fine! Just...just put Cas on, okay?" There was silence a moment, before it was broken by what sounded like arguing, only in a language Lo couldn't speak. The next words in English were shouted.

"Laurel Tanner is my charge and I take full responsibility for her! Just let her stay!" 

Her reply to whatever the next statement was was softer, almost broken. "I know."

_What do you know, Erika?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the chapter titles are all Fall Out Boy lyrics. I feel like Erika would like Fall Out Boy.


	5. Chapter 4: The First To Listen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family bonding! Or, y'know, not.

As far as 'meeting the parents' went, Erika Winchester was pretty sure that this was a disaster.

Right from the get-go, she'd known that bringing a teenage civilian home wouldn't go over well, even if that civilian happened to be her charge (and that in itself was a whole other can of worms that she wasn't sure Lo should be around to see opened).

It would all have been relatively okay, however, if Lo had shown even the slightest aptitude for hunting.

Erika had done all she could to prepare her. They'd spent the whole day before the older generation returned holed up in the library with John Winchester's journal and several other books Erika figured would be useful, acting how regular people did the night before a major exam.

It wasn't effective in any way. For all the research Lo had done in the past, it was astonishing that so much of it was wrong, and correcting her was difficult. And it only took five minutes on the shooting range for both to realize Lo should _never_ be allowed to hold a gun. Ever.

And considering her own family consisted of two of the most well-known, respected and feared living hunters and one renegade archangel it was pretty damn impressive that Laurel had lasted the five hours that she did before dragging Erika aside and hissing 'your family scares me'.

And it would have all been _so_ much worse if Gabriel and the only other known nephil in existence actually lived with them.

But still. If they were dating this would have been the train wreck that ended the relationship.

So, twenty-four hours later, when she heard the door to her bedroom open (she'd taken the one next door) and its inhabitant exit in the middle of the night she wasn't all that surprised. Didn't stop it hurting. She buried her face in the pillow that wasn't even her own and pretended not to be crying. _Why does it hurt so bad?_

**********

Lo didn't _want_ to leave the bunker, exactly. She just couldn't bring herself to stay somewhere she wasn't wanted. She didn't want to offend Erika, of course, but when she compared that to being shot or smote, leaving was her best bet. So she packed some of her new clothes and the foreign-language book in the backpack she'd bought with Erika, left a note on the pillow promising to return the book at some point, and left the room.

There were way too many spare rooms in the bunker to warrant Erika giving up her own. Lo felt a momentary pang at how ungrateful she'd look in the morning, but forced it from her mind.

She began trying to find her way out. The place was massive, and she hadn't entered in the 'normal', human way the first time, but finding the exit couldn't be too difficult, could it?

Too late, she realised she wasn't sure what state she was in or how to get to civilisation from the bunker. 

_Crap._

Maybe sticking with the Winchesters and having Erika help her (if she could bring herself to talk about what had happened) would be a better plan.

But Erika's family terrified her.

Maybe it was best she left.

It was just her luck she'd blunder through the wrong door and find herself face-to-face with Dean Winchester and a shotgun.

**********

Eventually Erika gave up on trying to get back to...not sleep; sleep was for the weak. With a flap of wings,she moved herself to the library, searching for something, anything, to distract her. Even an old installment of the Winchester Gospels would be better than lying alone in the dark wondering what would happen next. It would be infinitely preferable to the faint gnawing sensation that had become noticeable again.

It had faded to the back of her mind since Lo had joined her. Somehow the human's company had helped her forget about it. With Lo good as gone there was nothing blocking it out.

She was curled up on the floor with the one reliable source of information on the nephilim and her grey-black wings wrapped tightly around herself when she realised she was no longer alone in the room.

"Erika?"

Erika didn't respond, turning another page in her book.

"I know why you're here."

Nothing.

"I understand you feel upset about Laurel leaving."

"I'm not _upset_ , Castiel" Erika replied, too quickly and too brittle for it to be genuine. "I want her gone."

"And where will she go?"

"Wherever it is, she's better off there. She's not happy here, and she doesn't feel safe, and as her guardian it's my duty to let her go if that's what she needs."

"We still need to talk about that, Erika." Erika still hadn't unfurled her wings, but even through the cocoon of dark feathers she heard the sound of Cas sitting down next to her.

"No, we don't."

"The nephilim cannot _have_ charges," he continued as his daughter gave up on reading and buried her face into her arms, "it's not possible. You know that as well as I do."

"What do I do about it then? It's not like I can just waltz into Heaven and tell them there's been some kinda cosmic screwup. You know what the Host would do to me!"

"There is nothing we can do," Cas attempted to place a hand on the nephil's shoulder, but her right wing jerked upwards to deflect it.

"There's one thing," she corrected. "Laurel Tanner can get the hell away from me before I do something stupid. She...I don't think she knows anything about the nephilim at all. She thinks I'm a good person, Cas!"

*********"

On autopilot, Laurel threw her hands up in surrender. "Don't shoot!" This was _not_ how her life was supposed to end. She was supposed to die peacefully in her sleep after a long life, with her hypothetical descendants only a phone call away. She wasn't going to be snuffed out at fifteen by her guardian nephil's father, knowing she was almost entirely alone in the world. "Please!"

"Couldn't if I wanted," Dean replied, setting down the weapon he'd been cleaning (Lo kicked herself for not noticing that - it hadn't even been pointed in her direction).

"Okay...that's great!" she stuttered, relieved and slightly shaken. "I'll just be on my way-"

"Sit." Dean lowered himself onto the nearest couch and patted the space next to him.

"I'm good..." Lo tried to back away.

"Tanner."

There was no room for argument. Lo perched as far away as possible and braced herself. "If this is the part where you ask about my intentions with your daughter-"

"Oh, I'm not worried about what you'll do to Erika," Dean replied as Laurel stared at her feet.

"You...you're not?"

"She's a big girl, She can take care of herself," the hunter resumed cleaning the shotgun. "No, I'm more concerned about what _she'll_ do to _you."_

**********

"Don't say that," Cas said as Erika's wings dropped from their protective circle.

"Why not?" she replied bitterly. "You know what I am and I know what I am. Quit trying to tell me I'm any different."

"Erika, listen-"

"No. I'm an abomination, Castiel. You shoulda killed me when you had the chance."

"You know I couldn't do that."

"Because I'm Dean's daughter?" The nephil scoffed. "I was a _parasite_. I sapped your Grace and warped your DNA and now our family's screwed. I'm already dragging three people down with me; I'm not making it four."

Silence stretched out for a moment, before it was finally broken. "If you let her go out alone, Laurel Tanner will die. She doesn't know what she's dealing with. Neither do we. She needs you."

"I am the _opposite_ of what she needs! It's my job to keep her safe, and the longer she's with me the more danger I put her in!"

**********

Laurel gulped. "Erika would never hurt me."

"Not if she could help it."

"What are you saying?"

"The nephilim are unstable. Unbalanced. They're destructive by nature."

Lo tried to imagine the Erika she'd come to know as any of those things. Failed. "You're wrong. Erika isn't like that."

"Because she doesn't want to be. She doesn't want anyone to get hurt because of her."

"So what's the problem?"

Dean sighed. "Destroying things is in her nature. She can't fight that alone, but there's nothing any of us can do to help. That's why she needs you."

"She's _my_ guardian; why would she need _me?"_

"Looks like you keep her sane."

Laurel had questions, of course, but the arrival of a third party meant they would go unasked for now.

"No _way_ are you leaving without me," Erika said, grinning only semi-sincerely as she shouldered Lo's backpack along with her own bag; her voice quavered a little. "C'mon!" The nephil gripped her companion's wrist, fired off a quick ‘Bye, Dean!’ and the two flickered out of existence, to reappear God-knows-where.

Dean knew what that meant for Erika.

Destiny was catching up with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about Castiel's status: at some point between the Season 10 finale and Erika's...not conception, because that's not really it, but there isn't a word for what happened with Erika...Castiel is promoted. At least, he is in this universe.


	6. Chapter 5: I Am Your Worst Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The duo discover what the enemy is...featuring a new threat, a lost friend, and a new ally...

The two of them had an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't return to the bunker until the case was solved. In Erika's case, this was a matter of pride. This was her first major solo case (even if she wasn't sure what she was up against) and she wasn't running back home like the Little Winchester That Couldn't. With Laurel, it was more to do with personal demons. She was going to have to face what had happened one way or another, and she’d rather it be like this, out on the road with the girl who was probably her only friend, facing down the forces of evil in a quest for answers and vengeance, than holed up underground with people she barely knew or forced to attend some pointless therapy session.

And so it came to pass that, at three in the morning, the two of them stood in the wreckage that Laurel had once called home. 

The place looked a mess - a burned-out shell of a building that looked as though a hurricane had ripped through. A small sob caught in the back of Lo's throat.

This was where it began.

The two girls picked their way through the wreckage, Erika vigilant and Lo staring at her shoes. Occasionally, they thought they saw shadows dart out of the way in their peripheral vision and subconsciously moved closer together.

Laurel had picked up a necklace from what had once been her parents' bedroom and pocketed it, but aside from that they made no contact with their surroundings.

The EMF reader Erika had packed was silent.

There was no sulphur to indicate demonic presence.

There was no reason for angelic involvement (although Erika still carried an angel blade, since there weren’t many things it wouldn’t kill.)

Neither of them knew anything else that could be responsible. Laurel had shown Erika the book, but the nephil had taken one look at it and dismissed it immediately, claiming the creature described did not exist. (“It’s a scientific impossibility, Lo!”)

They had to have missed something.

There had to be some clue.

"Hello?" Laurel called out on impulse.

"Anybody here?" Erika added. It wasn't normal hunting protocol, but once Lom had spoken up there wasn't any going back and they needed a lead.

No reply.

Until the creature behind them responded with "Nope."

Lo screamed, and Erika moved in front of her charge, blade held aloft and wings fanned out in a defensive position.

And then they got a good look at the  _ thing. _

”Ky?”, Lo said, stunned. “You scared me!” She laughed in shocked relief and ran forwards.

Ky held up a hand to stop her.

“Not quite,” he said, smirking. “I’m afraid Caleb isn’t home right now.”

Lo froze, and Erika squinted, trying to make sense of the creature’s true form, demon-black but with the majestic air of an angel, and so dense in appearance the being absorbed light, rather than emitting it. Most confusing of all were the wings; large, featherless and dark enough to make even Castiel’s look pale.

It wasn’t often that Dean Winchester’s daughter felt out of her depth.

Laurel, meanwhile, was incensed. “What did you do to him?”

“He’s still alive, if that’s what you’re asking, Glaser.” The not-Ky-thing was still grinning slyly. “That’s his nickname for you, isn’t it, Laurel?”

“How did you-”

“As long as I’m in here with him, I have access to his memories. When you were thirteen years old the two of you saw  _ Stonehenge Apocalypse _ . He named you for Jacob Glaser in the hope that you too would be proven correct. You both still remember it, even though you never found a trace of the film’s existence afterwards.”

“Bastard!”

“And Destiel,” the  _ thing _ continued, turning its attention to Erika, who grimaced at the mention of her true name, “I’ve heard so much about you on the grapevine. You’re quite famous down in Hell, you know.”

“I better be,” Erika replied, desperately trying to look like she knew what she was doing. “I’d be a failure if I wasn’t. You demons have  _ nothing _ on me.”

“Oh, I’m not a demon.” It chuckled.

“Then what the fuck  _ are _ you?”

“Well, this is a surprise,” it said, still smiling as it took a step closer. “The great and powerful Erika Mary Winchester, confused by little old me. I’m flattered.”

“Well,  _ we’re _ not. Answer my question!” Erika demanded, pressing the tip of her blade into the creature’s throat.

To her surprise, it disarmed her easily and flung her back into the wall. She struggled, but couldn’t break the force holding her in place.

For the first time, Erika had found something stronger than her. Her powers were useless.

“ _ Daezatim,” _ the creature hissed. “You’ve heard of us, I believe.”

“Sure,” Erika responded, still fighting the invisible bonds held in place by nothing but the creature’s undivided focus, “just like I’ve heard of Bigfoot. The daezatim are a  _ myth _ . It’s just a stupid story told to fledgelings-”

“You mean like everything Sam and Dean taught you to hunt?” The daezat shook its head mockingly. “Like angels? If everyone had that attitude, you know, you’d never have been born.”

“ _ Oxex daziz siatris!”  _ Erika spat.

“Swearing at me in Enochian? You wound me, Destiel,” it clutched at its heart, “Considering you’re just like me.”

Lo, forgotten in the face of this new conflict, struggled to process this. Erika had no such problem. 

“You’re lying!”

“Am I? Dean Winchester was a demon once, remember.”

“Once,” the nephil repeated, “but not when I was conceived. I’m  _ nephilim _ .”

“Are you? How can you be sure there was no residual demon passed on to you?” Erika stopped to consider. It was only for a second, but the daezat knew it had hit a nerve. “You feel it, don’t you? Deep inside of you. Humanity counts for nothing. You’re _daezatim,_ Destiel.”

“Any demon blood there could have been would have been neutralised and overridden by the force of angelic Grace.” Textbook answer. Chemistry in action.

“Then how do you explain me?”

Erika had no answer for that.

* * *

 

Laurel, meanwhile, didn’t understand what  _ daezatim  _ meant, but she knew her friend was in pain, and she knew Ky had no control.

She had to buy them both some time.

“Ky?” She cried, causing the daezat to turn and face her. “It’s me! Glaser!”

“We’ve had this conversation before, I believe.”

Laurel pressed on regardless. “I know you’re in there, Ky! You can fight this!”

The daezat rolled its black-hole eyes. “Daezatim aren’t like angels or demons. We can’t be  _ fought _ for control.” It turned again, but it was too late. 

In breaking concentration, the bonds holding Erika in place had weakened enough for her to break them. She retrieved her sword and appeared behind Lo. The two disappeared.

* * *

 

Once they were far enough away, Lo collapsed again.

Erika began scratching a pattern onto the ground below her.

"What are you doing?" The human really wasn't in the mood to deal with any more weirdness.

"Calling in reinforcements," Erika replied. She drew the final line of the sigil and whispered something under her breath.

A flap of wings heralded the arrival of a third party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about Erika's language: 'Oxex daziz siatris' allegedly means "vomit out the heads of scorpions". Which is an awesome thing to yell at an enemy.


	7. Chapter 6: Young Volcanoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erika meets Sabriel. There's bickering, fluff and and perhaps some mirroring. Laurel angsts.

"You must be Destiel," the newcomer said.

"I go by Erika, Robert." Erika corrected with her usual bluntness. "Call me Destiel again and I stab you in the neck."

"Call me Robert again and I'll vaporise you."

Lo looked from one to the other, knowing she should know who not-Robert was, but unable to think of it. "Have I missed something here?"

"She's with you?"

"Lo, this is  _ apparently _ my cousin Sabriel," Erika explained. "Sabriel, this is my charge, Laurel."

Sabriel couldn't possibly have heard that right.  _ It's impossible. _ "But nephilim don't-"

"We know," the girls chorused.

There was a mildly awkward silence.

"So I'm assuming you called me about the daezatim _ ,"  _ Sabriel said finally.

Now it was Erika's turn to be shocked. "You  _ knew? _ "

"What else could it have been?"

"Literally  _ anything  _ but daezatim."

The two nephilim scowled at each other.

" _ So, _ " Lo asked, "if you know what they are, do you know how to kill them?"

"Nope."

Erika sighed. "Well, this was useless."

Sabriel's brassy wings flared out in annoyance at his cousin's remark. "Did you just call me useless?"

"No, I called this whole scenario useless."

"You implied I was useless."

"So far, you  _ have _ been."

"If I'm useless, you're incompetent."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Laurel snorted. "Did you just-"

"Shut up," the nephilim chorused.

"What we need," Sabriel said after yet another awkward silence, "is a plan." Before either of the girls could respond, he was airborne.

Laurel stared upwards in obvious confusion, before giving up. "My life is so fucking weird," she muttered.

"What are you  _ doing? _ " Erika yelled, thanking God (wherever He was) that at least they were in an isolated area.

"I do my best thinking when I'm flying," Sabriel hollered back. "Try it!"

Erika gave her wings an experimental flutter. "I haven't flown in forever," she murmured.

For a moment, she wondered if she could even do it.

Then she remembered who she was.  _ Erika Mary Winchester _ did  _ not _ let her showoff half-Trickster cousin show her up.  _ Ever _ .

She launched herself skyward.

As a fledgeling, Erika had loved flying, but once she'd figured out teleporting it had become impractical given she lived underground. And it became so much harder to enjoy anything when you knew Heaven had a bounty on your head. She'd forgotten a lot of things, like how strong the wind could be up there, and how flapping was sure to send you hurtling back to Earth.

Sabriel, she noticed, had no such problems. Where she struggled, he soared effortlessly.

That fact gave him immense pleasure.  _ Who'd've thought? Erika Winchester, a dud?  _ He had no way of knowing her past, but her present was evidently pretty shaky.

"Wanna race, Des?" He knew that would rile her.

'Des' glared. "You're on!"

He grinned.

* * *

 

Back on solid ground, Lo gazed up at the sky, watching the two nephilim attempt to outdo each other. Their sibling rivalry (although they weren't technically siblings) was a stark contrast to her friendship with Ky. They'd always been so close; it had never occurred to her that other families weren't like hers.

_ Ky. Family. _

What had gone wrong? What had any of them done to deserve their fate?

Lo expected to feel sad, but instead she just felt angry.

It was a good thing, she realized bitterly, that Heaven's apparent SNAFU had brought her into contact with the Winchesters.

Laurel Tanner was going to become a hunter. She was going to help Erika and Sabriel kill the daezat, and every other of its kind, and then she was going to turn on the other creatures out there. No-one should have to endure what she had.  _ Ever. _

She hadn't shown much promise as a hunter before, but with enough training perhaps she could improve. It wouldn't be too difficult to learn what was true and what wasn't if she truly applied herself, and even if she would never be a great marksman there were other weapons that would be just as useful. 

An image of Erika's vast collection came to mind.

Erika had tried to save her, and - perhaps most importantly - she had wanted to save Ky. She'd pressed the tip of her blade into his neck, but Lo had seen it in her eyes - the nephil had wanted to avoid causing his death.

Dean had told her what Erika was - violent and destructive by nature - but it didn't make sense.

Maybe she  _ did _ exert some kind of calming influence over the nephil.

Laurel didn't hear the two figures approaching her until it was too late.

Before she could react, Erika had grabbed her around the torso,  Sabriel had her by the ankles, and the pair had hoisted her several metres up in the air.

* * *

 

Eventually, Sabriel released his grip and darted off somewhere, but Erika held on tight to her human charge, and in spite of everything she was supposed to think about the nephilim, Lo was sure - absolutely  _ certain _ \- that she'd never let go. And she felt safe.

It couldn't last. Of course it couldn't.


	8. Chapter 7: The Poisoned Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan, and argument, and proof that Winchesters don't get downtime.

"Are you sure this will work?" Laurel asked, collapsed on the motel bed. Her bag was leaning against one wall next to Erika's, and Erika herself was sat cross-legged on the other bed, etching various sigils into her angel blade.

Sabriel broke off pacing to turn to her. "Of course it will."

"Really?" Erika looked up from her task. "Because I've been training to hunt monsters since I could  _ toddle _ , and I say this is bullshit."

"Remind me how this works again?" Lo asked, trying to diffuse the argument before it really began.

"Simple. The disposable one - that's you, Tanner - distracts the daezat," Lo squawked in protest, but the older nephil ignored her, "I'm better with my powers, so I incapacitate this thing from a distance, then Little Miss I'm-A-Trained-Hunter over here gets in close and stabs it in the neck with her customised angel blade. Easy-peasy."

"So Lo and I have to actually get up close and personal with this sonofabitch while you get the easy job?"

"Yeah, so? It makes sense. Lo isn't a part of this prophecy, and she knows the monster's meat suit, you have all that weapons training, and, as the spawn of Loki himself, I've been screwing around with my powers from birth."

"But what about Ky?" Lo asked, sitting up.

"Lost cause, Tanner," Sabriel waved a dismissive hand and didn't look remotely remorseful. "Accept it. Move on."

"Sabriel Lokisson," Erika turned her viridian glare on the nephil in question and lifted her blade in warning, "shut up or I swear to old Grampa God Himself that this here angel blade goes straight through your neck." (She wasn’t entirely sure it would kill him, but it would definitely be satisfying)

"And what's your big idea? Let your girlfriend here go on believing the guy's gonna be perfectly safe until you plunge a knife into his trachea?"

"She's not my girlfriend, she's my charge, and she's been through  _ enough." _

" _ She _ is right here!" Lo yelled, drawing the attention of the other two. "Look, I've read the Gospels. I  _ know _ sometimes there's no saving the vessel. You don't have to treat me like a  _ child _ !"

"See?" Sabriel turned on Erika in triumph. "She's cool with it!"

"I never said I was-"

"Shut up, puny human."

"Wait," Erika said, "maybe there  _ is  _ a way to save Ky."

* * *

The daezat was starting to get comfortable in the body of Caleb Bates. It felt good in there, as though the boy was its true vessel, if daezatim could have such things.

It wandered through the house Caleb's family had lived in once upon a time, reveling in the feel of a world of its own, free of the oppressive heat of Hell. Earth was pleasant.

Not as pleasant as the other place, of course.

Not at all.

But for now, it basked in the Earthly silence.

* * *

A door banged open.

"I'm home, bitch!" Laurel yelled from downstairs. "Come and get me!"

With a flap of its wings, the daezat wearing Caleb Bates materialised in front of the small hunting party.

"What a wonderful surprise," it crooned. "Glaser and Destiel, come back to see me." Its head swiveled. "And Sabriel."

Lo stepped forwards, reaching for courage she wasn't sure she had. "Yep. Here we are, ripe for the picking." 

Whilst the daezat focused on Lo, Erika began to move behind it whilst Sabriel stayed by the door.

Lo took another step.  _ For Ky. _

"Just answer me this one thing," she asked. "I know you killed my family pretty efficiently, so when you came back to finish the job, why did you wait for Aunt Jenny to leave? Why did you let me get away?"

"I didn't 'come back'," the daezat hissed. "I had no interest in you or your aunt. Or the rest of your family, for that matter. Not even Caleb here."

"Then why did you-"

"Same reason your friend Destiel starts fires in trashcans. For the hell of it."

"You sick, sick bastard."

"You're  _ adorable _ when you're disgusted."

"You're disgusting when you're adorable."  _ Worst comeback ever, Lo. _

"Now you answer something for me: why are you here?"

"Funny you should ask that," Lo smiled as she said it, but there was no real joy behind it.

Something knocked the daezat to the ground, and, focused as it was on taunting Lo, it had no time to react.

Sabriel stood, silhouetted in the doorway, palm outstretched and concentrating hard. It would be attractive, had Lo not known how obnoxious the guy could be. 

"I'm sure my friends would be glad to give you an answer," she continued.

Erika rammed her blade through the creature's throat before Lo finished the final syllable.

"See you in Purgatory," the nephil spat, pulling the weapon out with a sickening squelch and allowing the body to fall to the floor as the room became consumed by darkness.

Then she pressed her hands flat against the wound. "We have to act now!”

Her cousin joined her, as did Lo, although the human could do nothing to help.

Erika had explained before that the nephilim were more powerful than pure angels, but that they didn't possess quite the same talents.

Angels created; nephilim destroyed.

And by that logic, a single nephil would not have the power to heal anyone but themselves satisfactorily. ('Like meatball surgery versus cellular Miracle-Gro' was how Sabriel had described it)

But it was the best shot they had without calling for help.

After a minute or so, Ky opened his eyes.

"Hey, Glaser."

* * *

 

To anyone observing the small group walking into the diner, they must have looked a sight. 

Ky was bloodied, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane and with a scar on his neck that may never fully disappear.

Lo had tear-tracks streaking her face and her hair stuck out at odd angles from all the times she'd lain on it without trying to sort it out again.

Erika's shirt was torn from where it had caught on an exposed beam after the daezat first slammed her into the wall, and her knuckles were white.

Only Sabriel looked remotely composed, golden-brown hair still the same as it had been before their altercation and clothing unruffled.

Most of the events Ky already knew, both from his possession and from his mother's fanaticism, but he was still having a hard time working through it, and he still regarded the two nephilim with suspicion. But Erika had a credit card (under a false name, of course) and had suggested this detour, and free food was free food,especially when he hadn't eaten since the daezat got inside of him. And somehow nothing seemed so bad to any of them forty-five minutes later.

It hadn't been a particularly pleasant day, but it was over.

It was finally time to go home.

Erika pulled out her phone.

"Hey, Uncle Sam!" She sounded so much more chipper than she had an hour ago.

"Destiel." Her blood ran cold. "It's...good to hear from you How'd the case turn out?"

Something was very, very wrong.

"Well, none of us are dead, so..."  _ What's going on? _

"Listen, we're  _ kind of _ in the middle of something back here. Gabriel's here. Is Sabriel with you?"

"Yeah, he's right here. Do you want me to put him on?"

"No, i-it's fine. Just...get home safe, Destiel. Goodbye."

"Good-" Sam hung up before Erika had chance to finish. She turned to the others. "We got a problem."

"How do you know?" Ky asked, sceptical.

"Because no-one who's known me as long as my uncle Sam would call me Destiel. It's a warning."

"About what?"

"It means shit's about to go down, Sabriel," Erika said, "and our parents - and that includes  _ both _ of yours - don't want us in the middle of it." She picked up her bag, slung it over one shoulder, and made to depart. 

But she didn't.

"Where are you going?"

"Where d'ya think, Lo? Home."

Ky shook his head. "You're insane."

"My aunt'll take you in, Erika. You don't have to go back."

"But I do, don't you get it? I've been given the signal, and you know what that means? It means I gotta run, get as far away from the bunker as I can. And  _ that _ means this is a pretty big deal. If I follow orders, there's a pretty big chance everyone I ever cared about winds up dead on the floor. Forever. You think I'm just gonna stand by and let that happen to my own family?"

"And what makes you think you can make any difference?"

"I don't."

"You're not going back alone, Erika." Lo stood to join her. "I'm coming too."

Sabriel rolled his eyes before pushing his chair back. "Me too. We’re technically family."

"You can count me out," Ky countered, leaning back. The other three glared at him. "What?" More staring. "Hell, no."

"Ky?" Lo tilted her head to the side as she spoke.

"C'mon, we're losing daylight," Sabriel muttered.

"Thirty seconds, and we leave without you," Erika added. "Good luck out here with no money."

"I hate you all." But at least he stood up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this is a good time to explain how Sabriel came to be, but perhaps the less said about that the better. Suffice it to say it involves a one-night stand and some shapeshifter mistaken identity. More information available on request.


	9. Chapter 8: Everything Collides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visitor, a prophecy, and finally someone explains what the hell is going on. Kind of.

When the four teenagers looked down to the war room on their return, seven figures stared back. Three of them - Sam, Dean and Cas - Erika recognised instantly, and the shortest one, she realised, had to be Gabriel. The remainder of the group comprised three other angels, all in identical black suits.

_ Crap. _

The tallest angel snapped his fingers, freezing the bunker’s inhabitants in position, then beckoned the smaller group down.

Erika almost refused, and she saw Sabriel stiffen at the thought of taking orders, but the angels were armed.  _ At least down there I could put up a fight _ .  _ If they do  _ anything  _ more to my family... _

“Destiel. Sabriel. Together at last.” The angel had a clipped, businesslike tone, and it set Erika’s teeth on edge.

Ky opened his mouth to say something. “Don’t talk,” the angel commanded, before returning his focus to the nephilim. “I am Remiel. The last Archangel in Heaven.”

“Then why don’t you go back there?” Sabriel said, disregarding both Remiel’s commands and any sort of manners.”

“Because my presence is needed. Lucifer and Michael are in Hell. Raphael, Zachariah and Uriel are dead. Raguel was dead to us long before she met her demise. And Castiel and Gabriel? Hardly worth the title. There is only me. And you. Now come.”

* * *

They followed him into one of the bunker’s many rooms. Erika briefly wondered how he navigated this labyrinth with as much surety as she, a resident, had, but didn’t have time to dwell on it.

“I trust you are familiar with the predictions of the Prophet Alison?” Sabriel and Erika nodded. “Let me hear it.”

Sabriel began, speaking quickly and with little enthusiasm, in the same way students do reading from a textbook. " _ ‘In this year the fallen Messenger, angel of judgement, shall return to life. And he shall take for himself a human mate in the form of the man who would be king, true vessel of the Morningstar. And the latter shall be cleansed in the resurrection of the former. And this union shall deliver unto the world a nephilim child, known on Earth as Robert and in Heaven as Sabriel, the Son of God. And on the day of his birth angels will fall.’ _ ”

Erika picked it up next. " _ ‘And after two years a second union shall be wrought, this between the Righteous Man and the angel of Thursday. And the former shall be absolved of divine duty to the archangels and the angel of solitude shall cease to live in solitude. And from this union a second nephilim child shall be created, known on Earth as Erika and in Heaven as Destiel, the Daughter of Man. And on the day of her birth demons will cower.’ _ ”

“And the rest?” Remiel asked. The four looked blank. “Of course. I never let any of you find out the rest. Your parents only heard a few minutes ago. The final passage never made its way to the two of you. And if it did- well, it didn’t stick.” He smiled smugly, before reciting the final piece.

“ _ ‘So it is that once abominations vy for control of Creation it shall be those painted as abominations that may wield the sword that shall save this world, or else destroy it. So mote it be.’ _

“You understand what that means? The daezatim are rising. Stronger than even the archangels. Even Archangelic nephilim such as yourselves.”

“And what does this have to do with any of us?” Erika demanded.

“Everything,” Remiel replied. “Your entire lives have been lived in anticipation of this moment. You meeting Laurel Tanner when you did was just a happy coincidence, of course, but everything else? According to the Great Plan! My forces would visit the Bates’s home, make it look like another daezatim attack. And Laurel, desperate for help, would pray. And her newly assigned guardian nephilim would be compelled to answer!” He sneered at the looks of shock on the faces of his audience. “Heaven doesn’t make mistakes. A nephilim child entrusted with a human life? Under normal circumstances, that would never happen. But Destiel had to learn of the daezatim. And, hopelessly out of her depth, she would call for Sabriel, uniting the two and setting them on the path to their glorious destiny!”

“So...so what happens to me now?” Laurel asked softly.

“You can’t be allowed to remember this. My brothers will erase your memories. The two of you and dear Jennifer will have a new life. New identities. Free and untroubled.”

“And if we don’t want that?” Ky challenged.

“Then you die.”

“Then-” Erika pulled Laurel to the side before she could finish her sentence. 

“Lo,” she hissed, “I have an idea. Do you trust me?” Lo nodded. “Well, that makes one of us. Give me your arm!”

Lo screwed up her face in pain as Erika’s hand burnt into her skin.

“Laurel Tanner is mine,” Erika said defiantly, “claimed with my full and conscious intent by law of Heaven. She and her family fall under  _ my _ protection. You will not touch them.”

“You are no longer her guardian, Destiel,” Remiel said angrily.

“But I am her protector. Self-appointed and cemented by your own laws.”

“It is  _ you  _ that needs protection, Destiel. And Sabriel.”

“Explain,” Sabriel demanded.

“The daezatim are powerful. Too powerful even for you, but the Archangelic nephilim are the closest to them in power save God Himself. And Heaven needs you in its task force.”


	10. Chapter 9: Calm Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is Part 1 of a double update, but there won't be more for a while. I'd rather not put up Book 2 until I have it all completed, and I'm not really part of this fandom so much anymore. But this WILL be completed eventually, I promise.

“Okay,” Sabriel replied, after turning his answer over his mind. “I’ll do it.”

Erika stared, visibly angered (more so than before). “You’re going to  _ help this asshole?”  _

“What choice do I have?”

“None whatsoever,” supplied Remiel.

“There’s always a choice,” Erika spat. “Just like your people  _ chose  _ to have me whacked five years ago.”

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb, you angelic douchebag!” She pointed to a thin silvered scar on her neck. “See this? I was ten years old. I’d had a  _ horrible  _ day in school, and I came home - to the  _ only _ place I’d ever felt happy or safe or loved - and I went into the kitchen to get a snack, trying to make myself feel better, because my day just  _ couldn’t get worse.  _ Except it did, because the next thing I know one of your minions has an angel blade held up against my throat! What was his name? Nathaniel? Something like that. But he held a knife to a ten-year-old girl’s throat because of what she was, and it dug in so much it broke the skin. I had no idea what was happening; I’d always thought angels were like Castiel. Protectors. I thought they  _ cared _ .” She laughed bitterly. “Yeah. Right. And I was terrified. I couldn’t access my powers. I couldn’t move. I couldn't even  _ scream _ . It’s pure coincidence that Cas walked in when he did. Otherwise I would have been murdered. And your people don’t do anything without orders, and since God fucked off to wherever you archangels have been running the show. And you’re the last one. You sent that dickwad to kill me, and now you expect me to believe I’m your only hope? Sorry, but I’m not buying it.”

“Your existence was a closely-guarded secret, known only to myself and certain key members of Heaven’s higher elite. Nathaniel was not among them. Something of a lone gunman, as you would say. There was a nephilim running around Earth, and none of us were doing anything to stop it. He took matters into his own hands. Understand this: if Castiel hadn’t disposed of him, we in Heaven would have.”

“Erika,” Lo whispered. “If you don’t do this, people will die. Actually die, not Winchester-die.”

“You’re a hunter,” Sabriel added. “You save people, I help  _ Loki himself  _ kill them. If I’m stepping up to this job, then-”

Erika turned back to Remiel before her cousin could finish. “I have some conditions. Meet them, and I’m on your team.”


	11. Epilogue: Could It Last?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of a double update.  
> I hate the title I gave it. Next book will have chapter titles that aren't exclusively FOB lyrics. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it wasn't.  
> Thank you to everyone who put up with me this long. Sorry I waited so long to update this.

“What happens now?”, Lo asked on her final  morning in the bunker. The location had been passed on to Jenny, who was due to arrive soon.

For Ky, as much as he thought about becoming a hunter, he couldn’t get home soon enough, and most of the building’s other occupants were relatively indifferent, but Erika and Laurel were both more than a little saddened.

“I don’t know. You’ll go home, I guess, and I’ll be part of the Defence Against The Daezatim task force.”

“Will we still talk?”

“Maybe,” Erika sighed. “I’m not your guardian anymore, though.”

“But we can still be friends, right?”

“I don’t really...I’ve never had friends. Never felt like I  _ could.  _ I didn’t even have a Zanna _.” _

“You have me,” Lo said, reaching into her pocket and pulling something out. She pressed it into Erika’s pale hand. “This was my mom’s. I picked it up when we went back to the house. I want you to have it.”

Erika slipped the necklace on. It was simple, just an abstract silver charm on a black cord.  _ The sort of thing she’d wear _ , she realised. “You’re sure? I mean, it’s all you have left of-”

“I have my memories. As long as I remember my family, they aren’t really gone. I don’t need the necklace. What I need is a friend. After all, I have something of yours.”

“About that...I can remove it if you want. After this whole daezat thing blows over.”

“It’s okay.” The scar is still warm on Lo’s skin. “It means I’m not crazy.”

“You’re not crazy,” Erika said, squeezing her hand. “You’re the sanest person I’ve ever met, actually. And this world’s going crazy. Heaven’s allying with the nephilim rather than trying to exterminate us...it’s upside down. The tables are turning, Lo. Things are going to change for all of us. I can feel it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, a playlist!
> 
> Unbroken - Maria Olafs  
> American Beauty/American Psycho - Fall Out Boy  
> Freewill - Rush  
> The Kids Aren’t Alright - Fall Out Boy  
> My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark - Fall Out Boy  
> Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas


End file.
